


Dr Gaster was the Royal Scientist

by lazylikesans



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: I'm Sorry, M/M, inconsistent upload schedule
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2017-05-12
Packaged: 2018-10-20 05:12:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10655607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazylikesans/pseuds/lazylikesans
Summary: Dr Gaster was the Royal Scientist. Everyone knows that. What everyone doesn't know was that his social anxiety was slowly killing him. But it takes just one little skeleton to start to change that. But will he be able to help before time runs out for good?





	1. Please Don't Surprise the Goop Monster

**Author's Note:**

> I have both social anxiety and autism. Writing this is kinda therapeutic. But I'm a psychologist, not a physicist or a chemist. Using Gaster as an outlet was probably a bad idea. I dunno why I'm writing this, really. I should be studying for A-Levels...

Dr Gaster was the Royal Scientist. It was a highly demanding and highly respected position. Which gave everyone the assumption that the person filling it must be also. 

In truth, Dr WD Gaster was not. At all.

 

“Dr Gaster?”

In a second, the goop monster had desolidified, becoming a viscous black liquid on the floor of the lab. The test tube and clamp he had been holding disappeared in the mess that his body became. King Asgore Dreemurr gave a soft laugh.

“It’s okay, old friend, it’s okay. It’s just me and a visitor.” Asgore smiled gently. There was an awkward pause. With agonising slowness, a pair of alabaster hands appeared on the lab bench, one after another. Part of a pale face followed a moment after, a pair of dark eyes peeking over at the two. There was another awkward pause.

“H-hello?” The voice was slightly bubbly and distorted, like someone talking through liquid. And it was probably safe to assume that he was, given his current consistancy.

“Hello there, friend.” Asgore raised a paw and gave a wave. The face raised until all of it was visible above the lab equipment. One of the hands disappeared and reappeared a second later with the test tube and clamp, fitting it against the boss a little clumsily. There was yet another pause.

“Who’s th-that?” Though the eyes had no eyelights, Asgore’s companion could tell that the good doctor was staring at him. 

“Oh, this is Comic Serif. He’s one of the applicants to be a lab assistant here. I thought you might like to meet him in person. He’s been very promising thus far, you know.”

Dr Gaster slowly slid over to them. He didn’t seem to be any taller than the shorter of the pair, and, while his body and head was some sort of pitch black gelatinous liquid as first thought, his startlingly white hands and face appeared to be skeletal in nature. His hands had odd holes in the palms. Even odder, his face was intersected by two rivers of black: one coming down from the top of his face to his right eye, and the other joining his left eye and the gap which was assumed to be his mouth. The visitor was just about to introduce himself properly, when the liquid shifted and pulled upwards. Gaster straightened himself, drawing up to his full height. The process a few seconds, but at the end of it the Royal Scientist was taller than Asgore. It was certainly intimidating.

“H-hello th-there… M-mister Serif.” And he was stuttering. This towering, ethereal, genius of a monster was stuttering in the face of a mere wannabe lab assistant.

“heya,” the short skeleton stuck out a hand, “nice to meet you, dr gaster. you can call me sans. sans the skeleton.”


	2. An Awkward Proposition

As Comic Sans Serif soon found out, his new boss was not the most social of monsters. Asgore had confided in him that the famed Royal Scientist actually suffered from crippling social anxiety and, while he was a genius when it came to anything sciency, could barely handle social interaction. In fact, after having his application interview with Asgore, Gaster had gone straight home and had about three separate panic attacks simultaneously. It took a long time for the friendly Boss Monster to earn Gaster’s trust. Asgore could still tell that he was nervous around him. But as a consequence of his shyness, Gaster had worked on the Underground’s Core pretty much all by himself. Which explained why Sans and his fellow lab workers never saw him, despite the fact that they worked directly underneath him. But it only made Sans admire his hero even more. It must have taken an absolute genius to dream up, design and help execute something like the Core solo.

But out all of the other monsters in the labs, it seemed Sans was the one he liked the best. On the few occasions Gaster had met with his employees, he always seemed to gravitate towards Sans. Perhaps it was that first meeting that drew the two monsters together, or the fact that they shared some skeletal similarities, but Sans was glad. He himself had never been good at making new friends, so was always glad to sit next to the scientist in meetings, or chat during coffee afternoons. 

It was also interesting to note that Gaster’s shyness was the reason that those less well-acquainted with him at the lab thought he was ‘arrogant’. Whenever Sans submitted work for review, Gaster always responded. Ranging from a simple ‘thanks’ to a compliment or something to improve on, Gaster always responded. Sans hadn’t realised that this was not the norm until at least a few weeks into his employment. When mentioning it to his colleagues, they informed him that Gaster simply reviewed their work and the only way they could tell if he’d liked it or not was if it was incorporated into the weekly report that was published for everyone in the Underground to see. 

With the lack of communication came a lack of direction. And the employees at the lab were getting frustrated. Both with Gaster and now with Sans for not talking to him about it.

Sans decided not to bring it up with Gaster. He felt it would be the best for now.

\----

A knock on the door pulled Sans from his work one day. 

“come in!” Sans called, not looking up from the blueprints on his desk. He heard the door open but nothing more for a few seconds.

“come in!” Sans straightened and looked up in the hope that it would invite the visitor in. The door was still ajar, but nothing else seemed amiss. Nothing until Sans noticed Dr Gaster’s pale face peeking around the door nervously. Sans’ constant grin grew a little more genuine. It was always nice to see his boss.

“I always like it when you peek in like that. I find it kinda a-door-able!” Sans quipped. He waited until Gaster got the joke, which always took a few seconds.

“Oh, I, um… yes. Ha! Ha ha! Th-thank you, S-sans.” A slight blush covered Gaster’s cheeks. He quickly slid inside and shut the door behind him. Sans stood from his chair.

“no prob, doc. waddaya need?”

“I… I need- I need to talk to you. Sans.” Gaster stuttered, gazing down at Sans. Sans gazed back, wondering what his boss would possibly need to talk to him about. He certainly wasn’t in trouble, because Gaster usually got Asgore to carry out discipline towards his assistants. In fact, Gaster’s communication was almost always done via the King. Or through painfully formal and long-winded e-mails. So what was so important that Gaster felt the need to come in person?

“sure, gaster. ya wanna sit down? it’s puttin’ a kink in my neck jus’ talkin’ to ya.” Sans gestured to the couch in his small office. Gaster hastily sat, an apologetic look on his face. It was taking all his willpower not to let forth a torrent of apologies, but he had learnt not to do that around Sans. Sans didn’t like it when he apologised for things he couldn’t change.

Sans sat down next to him.

“so… what d’ya wanna talk about, doc?” Gaster fiddled with his hands. Sans’ smile was patient.

“Well, first of all I’d like to express my absolute appreciation for you. Uh, your work, I mean. Your work ethic is really i-inspiring, and the work that comes out of it is simply exceptional. I really admire what you do. On top of that…” Gaster sighed. He never liked talking about his feelings, but it had to be said, “I find you… easy to talk to. Relatively, at least.”

“wait, wait, wait. slow down, doc. you’re meaning to tell me that the great doctor wingding gaster… admires me.” Sans stared in disbelief. Gaster squirmed in his seat. He didn’t know how to respond, so he pressed on.

“And all of that is why I’m asking you… if you’d like to be my p-personal assistant? I mean, feel free to refuse if you want. It’s just that, I’m finding it harder to keep up on my own these days, and Asgore has been asking me to get an assistant for ages. But it’s been so long that I thought I wouldn’t be able to stand anyone else, let alone muster up the courage to talk to them on a daily basis. So when you came along and I found I was able to talk to you it gave me the idea.” He knew he was rambling, but he couldn’t stop, “And your work is really good! But I’ve said that already, haven’t I? Gah. B-but I would be really grateful if you were to accept b-because I’ve always wanted to make the Underground a better place and with you by my side I’d be able to do that better than ever before. And I really like you Sans, so-”

“wait!” Sans grabbed Gaster’s wildly gesticulating hands in an effort to get him to stop talking. It worked, Gaster freezing at the contact. They looked at each other for a second.

“yes.”

“I- what?”

“i said ‘yes’. i’d love to work with you. if you want me to.” Sans’ smile reached his eye sockets. Gaster heaved a sigh of relief.

“Oh. That’s good to hear. I was s-scared you’d say no.”

“you’re scared if anyone says anythin’, doc.” Sans laughed. Hiding his face in his hands, Gaster let himself relax. He’d been so nervous and now it was over. And Sans had agreed to work with him…!

“Well, you’re n-not wrong.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Geddit? It's not really an awkward proposition, but a proposition made awkwardly!  
> Gods, this hit so close to home at points. Anyway, this, I think, is the end of exposition. The story should come in full force next chapter.  
> But mocks are just around the corner and I need to get good grades, so I may be a bit delayed. Make like a blue soul and be patient. Thanks.


	3. Normality

They quickly fell into a routine. 

Gaster had a few more problems than Sans had been expecting. For one, he always came in before Sans in the morning and insisted that Sans leave at the regular time of 5pm, despite Gaster himself still being fully immersed in his work. Gaster was a workaholic, but Sans had become used to his constant presence. And the constant presence of a multitude of empty coffee cups. 

“doc, i think you got a problem.”

It was 9:30am and Gaster was already on his 3rd cup. His gelatinous body was not shaking as such, but rather rolling and rumbling in a way that was distinctly not normal. Almost as if he was boiling.

“I-I’m fine! I j-just needed a little something to g-get going. Th-that’s all!” Gaster’s hands were flying over the keyboard of his computer. Despite their speed, Sans could see the shakiness in them. Definitely from the caffeine.

“i don’t exactly think three strong black coffees before 10am is exactly a ‘little somethin’. in fact, i’m thinkin’ it might be enough caffeine to dust ya, doc. maybe rein it in a little?” Sans placed a couple of beakers of fluid on the lab bench.

“No, no! I’m a-absolutely fine n-now. And now I’m getting on with my work. You don’t have to worry about me!” Gaster’s hands gesticulated wildly to the rest of the room. Sans just dodged his left one, ducking to avoid the speeding limb. The beakers weren’t so lucky. They went flying, crashing onto the floor and spilling their contents just shy of where Sans crouched. He looked at the mess.

“so I’m just gonna hafta clean this up?”

“…Yes.” Gaster was already engrossed in his work once more.

“what else was I expecting?” Sans grinned and went to fetch a broom.

\---

Three hours later, Sans finally heard the rapid and incessant tapping that was Gaster’s keyboard slowing: the caffeine was wearing off.

“you okay, doc?” Sans smiled, amused. This was a common enough occurrence. Gaster would drink enough coffee to keep him going for several hours, but then refuse to either drink more or rest until he was right on the verge of a severe caffeine crash. Then he would send Sans to the cafeteria to get more. Sans had questioned why there wasn’t a coffee machine in the lab, but Gaster had informed him that he was too shy to ask Asgore to get him one. What a surprise.

“F-fine, Sans. D-don’t let me distract you.” He didn’t quite sound sure of himself. Knowing that it would work out eventually, Sans shrugged and did as he was told. He threw himself into his work once more. Everyone in the Underground knew that Gaster and his team worked to make life better for everyone, but no one outside of the labs really knew the specifics. But Sans knew. His grin grew a little wider as he thought of the current project. Making the Core more efficient. Making sure that the power could reach out to the edges of the Underground. Making life better for everyone, even those who braved the cold.

Currently, Sans was tasked with testing different chemicals and compounds on the materials already used in the Core to see their effects. Gaster did the simulations, selected the most useful candidates for the purpose from the bunch, Sans tested them in various ways, and Gaster wrote up the findings. Together they decided on a conclusion and what to do next. While Sans’ job could be considered almost basic manual work, Sans had free rein to make his own conclusions and do his own tests outside of Gaster’s recommendations. Sans had a quirky mind. A “think outside the box” way of looking at the world, and so could see possibilities that Gaster might miss. With Sans’ work, Gaster could quickly put together a plan of action and design anything they might need. Together they were an almost unstoppable team.

“Um… Sans?”

“what is it, gaster?” Sans did not look up from his work. He just had to keep going. It was just so interesting-

“Can you go and g-get me some coffee, please?”

“i’m a bit busy, doc. can it wait?”

“N-not especially, no.” Sneaking a peek over at Gaster, Sans could tell that the crash was imminent. He knew he had to break this cycle. It wasn’t healthy. Maybe the excessive caffeine was contributing to his anxiety?

“i’m busy gettin’ on with my work, doc. if you want coffee, why don’t you try to get it yourself?” Sans knew it was pretty cruel to ask this of the anxious monster, but it would do one of two things: one, encourage Gaster to face his fears, or, two, make him finally take a break. Either was good, to be honest.

“But, b-but… there’s p-people there. Th-they’ll w-want to t-talk to me. I-I don’t want that. I… oh….” Gaster squirmed. His body began to liquefy from the stress, dripping down the sides of the chair and onto the floor. Sans sighed. They weren’t going to get anywhere like this.

“listen, doc.” Sans said. Gaster paused, looking hopefully at his colleague. The droplets of him that had fallen to the floor began to (somehow) pull upwards, re-joining with the rest.

“you want coffee now? you have to get it yourself. you want coffee later? i’ll get it for ya. simple as. i don’t want to put you in an awkward position, but i’m getting’ on with the job you hired me for. just think of it like that marshmallow test. you get coffee either way, but the manner you get it in changes. one’s pleasant, the other isn’t; one’s slow, one’s quick. your choice.” Having made himself plain, Sans turned back to his test tubes. Gaster sat thoughtfully for a few seconds.

“…Right. I see.” He could make it. Either he could muster up the courage to go down there or he could work through the crash. It would be fine. Gaster looked at the clock. 12:25. Most people’s lunch break started around now, or was already in full swing. The cafeteria would be packed. People would be talking.

_No. I can do this. I just have to expect the interaction. I’m going to the cafeteria to get coffee. There will be interaction in the cafeteria. I’ll be fine._

Gaster stood. Sans turned at the sudden sound of chair against floor. He watched as Gaster confidently slithered to the door, grasped the handle, took a deep breath, and opened it…

“Hi, Dr Gaster!”

Gaster slammed the door shut and hurtled back to his chair. He hit it with such force that it spun for a few seconds, before slowing to reveal a big, shivering, black blob. Sans couldn’t help but chuckle.

“what happened?”

“I-it was an assistant.”

“they talked to ya?”

“I-I wasn’t expecting any interaction until I got to the cafeteria.” Gaster’s face appeared, a forlorn look on it. Sans shook his head good-naturedly. 

“maybe you should just wait for me to get you some?” He looked at Gaster through the beaker in his hand.

“Y-yeah… maybe…” Gaster slowly turned back to his computer and began typing. Maybe the adrenaline would help keep him awake.

\---

Sans placed the beaker of hydrochloric acid down on the lab bench. The lab was strangely quiet. He hadn’t heard any tapping for a good few minutes now. He looked up. Gaster was frozen, hands suspended above the keyboard and dark eyes staring into space. Sans got up from his chair. He walked over to where Gaster was sat and stared. He was unnaturally still. Sans could have believed he was about to fall to dust right in front of his very eyes if it wasn’t for the natural gentle ripple of his body saying otherwise. Sans waved a hand in front of Gaster’s face.

“uh… doc? you okay?” Gaster suddenly crashed down. His face smashed onto the keyboard. A string of skulls appeared on the screen: Gaster’s version of the letter ‘n’. Sans quickly pressed the backspace, the interrupt overriding the previous unwitting command. Gaster appeared to be breathing, as far as Sans could tell. Then he realised. It had finally happened. Sans’ eyelights dimmed slightly. Gaster needed sleep, but he couldn’t do it in his chair. And Sans definitely could not lift him on his own. Unless…

Ping!

Sans had always struggled with blue magic. He just didn’t really have the patience for it. But he had always had a knack for turning other monster’s souls blue. Which made lifting the currently-unconscious large goop monster a breeze. Sans gently placed Gaster onto the couch in the corner of the lab. Then he found a blanket and tucked him in. He’d had practice with the last part. 

While Sans had been worried about how long Gaster would sleep, he needn’t have worried. Gaster awoke at around 4pm, groggily sitting up and taking in his surroundings.

“heya, doc.” Sans waved from his place at the bench. At some point between Gaster falling asleep and waking up, he’d gotten a microscope out and was looking through it at a piece of metal. Gaster stood, still clutching the blanket.

“What happened?”

“i think,” Sans turned to Gaster and leant his cheek on his hand, “you just got your first good night’s sleep in a long time. even though you did it in the middle of the day.” Sans chuckled. Gaster looked down at the blanket.

“…Thank you.” A blush spread across Gaster’s cheeks.

“no prob, doc. although, you gotta promise me somethin’, y’know.”

“Alright…” Gaster wondered where this could be going.

“you have to promise me that you are gonna go home at five o’clock and go the heck to sleep. because i think a full eight hours sleep, sans coffee, is just what the doctor ordered!” Sans winked audibly. Gaster facepalmed.

“Y-yes, I see your point, Sans. I-I’ll try to sleep. Although you sh-should try to not incorporate puns when you’re speaking seriously. It sort of detracts from the impact.”

“heh. i’ll try.” He extended a hand. “shake on it, doc?”

“Of c-course.” Gaster took it with a smile.

_Pppppppptttttthhhhhhbbbbbbttttt!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based of off personal experiences. Caffeine is a hellova drug. 'Nuff said.  
> Anyway, this chapter was certainly not meant to be this long. It just ran away from me. I suppose it's time to mention that I don't have a beta-reader. So any mistakes and confusion-inducing things are my own.  
> You've also probably noticed I have a set number of chapters now. Yup, this fic finally has direction. I have about a page of planning for this: 9 chapters, 1 epilogue and 1 interlude. The interlude will come when I haven't updated in a while and can't with a new chapter. But it's got some important character and relationship development in it, so it will probably come sooner rather than later.  
> Anyway, I'm gonna go study. I hate A-levels.
> 
> (Also, hi Amy!)


	4. <ramble>

“hey, doc. h-hey, doc.” Sans snickered. While Sans had laser-sharp focus, it was broken very easily. His companion was not so easily distracted. It took a couple more tries before Gaster dragged himself away from his work.

“Y-yes, Sans?”

“why did the froggit cross the road?” Sans’ eyelights dilated in anticipation as he watched Gaster genuinely think about the joke. Finally…

“I suppose to try and encounter as many other monsters as they can. That is generally the nature of Froggits. But you know this, Sans, why would you ask me? Froggits are very friendly monsters, their purpose is usually not malicious. But perhaps you’re enquiring about the road in particular? Maybe they’re going to visit someone? A friend? Or maybe a relative? I don’t really know. There just isn’t enough evidence to draw a conclusion, you can’t just make a sweeping generalisation, Sans, because you’ve looked at similar cases. It isn’t scientific, I-” Gaster stopped. Sans was laughing hard enough for tears to roll down his cheekbones.

“Sans… w-was that a joke?”

“mweh heh! hah! yeah, doc. it- mweh heh! it was!” Sans gasped, trying to compose himself. 

“Why are you laughing? Did I say the correct answer?” Gaster frowned. Sans had never laughed this hard before. Maybe he’d done the joke right this time.

“n-no. you didn’t really.” Sans looked up at him. “but there isn’t really a ‘correct’ answer. the more traditional answer is ‘to get the other side’, though.”

“Oh… th-then why did you laugh?”

“because it was different. and it was funny. it wasn’t really what’s expected. so it’s funny.” Sans nervously watched Gaster. He sat quietly for a moment, thinking.

“So, were you laughing with me? Or at me?” Gaster had learned that particular distinction long ago.

“were you laughing?”

“No, I was talking.” Gaster said plainly. Sans shook his head.

“no, i meant figuratively, not literally.”

“Oh.” Gaster shrunk in on himself a little. “Well, I guess not. N-no. I wasn’t.”

“then i was laughing at you and i apologise. i won’t do it again.”

There was a pause. Both monsters, still sat at their respective desks, avoided each other’s gaze. But the silence wasn’t awkward. It was more a contemplatory silence. 

“Um…” Sans snapped his head up. Gaster was staring at him earnestly.

“Thank you. For your a-apology.”

“no prob, doc. it’s what friends do.”

_Friend._ Sans had called him his friend. And apologised for laughing at him. Though Gaster knew he wasn’t being malicious in his laughter, it was wonderful to know that Sans cared about his feelings whether he intended to hurt him or not.

_To get to the other side._

It was funny because it wasn’t to be expected. The Froggit is just trying to go somewhere. There doesn’t need to be a reason why. 

Gaster smiled at Sans and turned back to his work.

“Huh… I get the joke, now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand < / ramble >!!
> 
> Right, so a bit to explain about this chapter. I wrote this chapter quite early in development so as to solidify both the characters and the relationship of Sans and Gaster. It's quite early in their relationship, but not at any fixed point. So think whatever you like of the other chapters.
> 
> And an explanation to Sans' "mweh heh" laugh. For those who don't know, that's the signature laugh of Underswap Sans. But in Underswap, Papyrus still goes "nyeh heh". I wondered why. So, in this AU, Sans does indeed go "mweh heh" but only when he's wetting himself laughing. Otherwise, he just goes "heh heh" in the rhythm of his speech sound from the game.
> 
> But I do like the idea of "why did the Froggit cross the road?". I was inspired by Peridot from Steven Universe. Indeed, that's where the last line came from, in case you're wondering.
> 
> And now mocks are over, so I should be able to start writing now chapters again! Yay! More of the socially inept puddle!
> 
> However, as I'm constantly looking for things to do other than schoolwork, I'm thinking of recording this audio-book style. It'll be a little bare, but I have a decent microphone and I do enjoy reading this aloud. Plus you'll be able to hear my gorgeous, unfortunately feminine tones. What do you think? Interested? (I have a British accent if that helps...)
> 
> But do be sure to please leave a review. I love hearing what you all have to say!
> 
> (Also, hi Amy, Dez, Hannah, and Shahar!)


End file.
